NIPSCO employees gathered at Tri-County Fish & Wildlife Area near Syracuse as community scientists to support the Monarch Joint Venture organization out of Fort Wayne. The volunteers helped to tag monarch butterflies for migration data collection on endangered species. Volunteers also learned of the overlap between supporting flagship species (such as the monarch and other pollinators) and how utility vegetation management supports biodiversity while also supporting safe and reliable energy. Photos provided.

News Release

MERRILLVILLE — Throughout September, more than 300 Northern Indiana Public Service Co. and NiSource Inc. employees rolled up their sleeves and volunteered at 33 local nonprofit organizations across northern Indiana as part of the company’s 14th annual Charity of Choice campaign, including at an event that took place at Tri-County Fish & Wildlife Area near Syracuse.

NIPSCO and Indiana-based NiSource employees dedicated a total of 1,201 hours of service to various causes. Volunteers supported dozens of local organizations, including the Food Bank of Northwest Indiana, Little River Wetlands, White County United Way and Boys & Girls Clubs of LaPorte County, to name a few.

A monarch that’s been tagged rests briefly on a volunteer’s fingertips.

“Charity of Choice is a way to demonstrate NIPSCO’s commitment to giving back, empowering employees to make a difference through volunteerism to organizations that  strengthen the communities where our customers live and work,” said Vince Parisi, NIPSCO president and chief
operating officer. “Local organizations are the foundation of a strong community. Our Charity of Choice campaign reflects the heart of NIPSCO as dedicated corporate citizens and
community stewards, willing to always give back to those who need it most.”

Parisi, along with other leaders including NIPSCO’s senior vice president of electric operations, Orville Cocking, and NIPSCO’s vice president of gas operations, Karima Hasan Bey, led volunteer events during the campaign.

From facility cleaning and landscaping to event organization and home construction, volunteers pitched in to assist organizations with a variety of tasks.

“We are committed to fighting food insecurity in the Region and we love having groups from NIPSCO come in to help us,” said Charlie Cole, development manager at the Food Bank of Northwest Indiana. “NIPSCO employees regularly volunteer their time and always enthusiastically assist with our daily  tasks. It’s great to bring new volunteers into the mix and this is especially true when speaking about our partnership with NIPSCO.”

Some of NIPSCO’s Charity of Choice volunteer opportunities were environment and habitat-focused, like the Monarch Joint Venture in Fort Wayne. Robert Seilheimer, the organization’s development manager, hosted a group of NIPSCO volunteers at the Tri-County Fish & Wildlife Area near Syracuse to tag individual monarch butterflies to track their migration patterns and collect data on the insects, which Seilheimer said are a candidate for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s endangered species list.

Seilheimer said it was enjoyable for the organization to have so many NIPSCO volunteers contributing to monarch conservation and community science.

“We are incredibly grateful for NIPSCO’s dedication to pollinator conservation and biodiversity,” Seilheimer added. “Their support and work are making a real difference for monarchs, other pollinators and the environment in northern Indiana.”

Additional organizations NIPSCO supported in the month of September included:

• American Heart Association, Chesterton
• Boys & Girls Club of La Porte County, La Porte
• Challenger Learning Center, Hammond
• City of La Porte Park and Recreation, La Porte
• Crisis Center, Gary
• Cultivate Food Rescue, South Bend
• Fair Haven Rape Crisis Center, Highland
• Family Service Association of Howard County, Inc., Kokomo
• Food Bank of Northwest Indiana, Crown Point
• Fremont Youth and Community Outreach Inc., Fremont
• Griffith Youth Baseball League, Griffith
• Habitat for Humanity of Northwest Indiana, Lake Station
• Hammond Hispanic Community Committee, Hammond
• Hilltop Neighborhood House, Valparaiso
• Humane Indiana, Munster
• Junior Achievement of Chicago, Gary
• Latinos Count, Lake County
• Leon’s Triathlon, Chesterton
• Little River Wetlands, Fort Wayne
• Meals on Wheels of Northwest Indiana, Hebron
• Monarch Joint Venture, Fort Wayne/Syracuse
• Opportunity Enterprises, Valparaiso
• Save the Dunes, Porter
• Silverstray Social, Gary
• Sojourner Truth House, Gary
• St. Jude House, Crown Point
• The Nature Conservancy, East Chicago
• The Salvation Army – Munster Office, Munster
• The Salvation Army of Michigan City, Michigan City
• The Wetlands Initiative, Gary
• TradeWinds Services, Inc., Hobart
• White County United Way, Monticello

To learn more about NIPSCO’s tradition of giving, visit NIPSCO.com/NIPSCOGivesBack.

Volunteers work gently to tag monarchs for migration data collection.